Israel Museum Reopens

The Israel Museum reopened on July 26 after a three-year, $100 million reorganization and facelift.  Here is the report from Biblical Archaeology Review:

"The refurbished museum creates links across cultures and their histories by displaying fewer objects in a much larger space with deeper explanations. Museum director James S. Snyder, an American Jew who worked for 22 years at the Museum of Modern Art, did not want to display the history of the land solely from a Jewish perspective. He placed an emphasis on cultural commonalities, and sought to contextualize Jewish history within a broad context. The design minds behind the renewal of the Israel Museum include James Carpenter Design Associates of New York and Efrat-Kowalsky Architects of Tel Aviv."

The oldest object in the museum is the million-year-old horns of a wild bull. There is also a heel bone pierced by an iron nail with wood fragments, the oldest physical evidence of crucifixion.

Read more about the newly reopened Israel Museum here.

Jacob's Journeys

Alice C. Linsley


The biblical record of Jacob's journeys to and from Haran (Padan-aram) reveal a fascinating parallelism that suggests that these accounts have been carefully crafted. For example, both departures represent reactions to the anger of brothers. Jacob flees from Canaan for fear of his brother Esau and he later flees from Padan-aram for fear of his wives' brothers (Gen. 31:1, 2). Consider the following:

Departure from Canaan

• Departure is precipitated by threat of violence from Jacob's brother
• Jacob's mother and father deliberate with him about the best course of action
• Departure is urgent, but well provisioned. In Genesis 32, Jacob says that he left Canaan with only his staff, but this is clearly hyperbole because in Genesis 28 we find that he has oil to anoint the pillar that he set up at Beth-el. His mother would have made sure that her favorite son was well provisioned before his journey. 
• Another motive for Jacob's departure to Haran is marriage.  A proper marriage would be to a half-sister and/or a patrilineal cousin or niece. Rachel and Leah fit the requirement.
• Isaac prays that God would make Jacob to become a "company of peoples" (Gen. 29:3 NAS).
• On the way to Padan-aram Jacob covenants with God and sets up a stone pillar which he anoints with oil (Gen. 28:18).
• Jacob is fearful of his reception in Padan-aram, but he arrives safely and is well received at the well where he meets Rachel, his future wife (Gen. 29:2-11).

Departure from Padan-aram

• Departure is precipitated by the animosity of Rachel and Leah's brothers and Laban's change of attitude toward Jacob (Gen. 31:1, 2)
• Jacob deliberated with his wives about the best course of action
• Departure is urgent, but well provisioned. Jacob and his wives made sure that they had sufficient provisions for both wives' households/companies before the journey.
• Another motive for Jacob's return to Canaan is his desire to keep his 2 wives (Gen. 31:31).
• Jacob returns to Canaan with 2 companies or 2 households (Hebrew: mahanaim), the camp of Rachel and the camp of Leah.
• On the way to Canaan Jacob and Laban form a covenant and set up stone pillars (Gen. 31:44-46).
• Jacob is fearful of his reception in Canaan, but he and his 2 companies arrrive safely and are well received by his brother Esau.

The parallelism between Jacob's journeys is striking and invites us to further explore a possible parallel between the two events that don't appear to be connected: Jacob's dream of the ladder and Rachel's confiscation of the Teraphim.  We will now turn to the intriguing question of whether these represent parallel cosmological views.

Teraphim were ancestor statues that belonged to the great Afro-Asiatic kingdom builder Terah. Terah was the father of Haran, Nahor and Abraham. Ancestor statues or figurines are still used in traditional African religions. The ancestor figurines were are not worshiped, but were venerated as they represented great ruler-priests who were expected to intercede for their people after death. This is like the veneration shown by Christians to saints and martyrs to whom they turn for intercessions.[1]

The word Teraphim is usually rendered "images" or "idols" but the word actually means the things pertaining to Terah. The confusion is due to the appearance of the word in 1 Samuel 19:13 where we read that "Michal took the Teraphim and laid it on the bed, and put a quilt of goats' hair at its head, and covered it with clothes." She was attempting to make a decoy for David's sleeping body, so it is clear that this reference is not speaking of a small ancestor figurine such as Rachel was able to hide in a saddle.

The Teraphim and the ladder in Jacob's dream speak of a henotheistic worldview, that is, belief in a creator God supreme over all things who is assisted by lesser powers (baals), dieties, spirits or angels. These lesser powers do not act independently of God's sovereign will. In this view when good or evil comes upon a person it is because God has allowed it. This explains why there is often lack of precision about identifying angels and the spirits of the righteous (deified) dead in the Bible.[2] Both were seen as messengers or agents who could move between Heaven and Earth. 

So it appears that Jacob's ladder and Rachel's teraphim are part of the carefully crafted journey narratives and that Jacob's going to Haran and his return to Canaan are perfectly parallel.


NOTES
1. There is a darker side to ancestor veneration, observed today in Africa and experienced by St. Paul in Philippi (Acts 16:16-18), where demons are invoked and false prophets declare through demon possession.

2.  In Acts 12, Peter is delivered from prison by an angel.  He knocks at the door where the faithful are gathered and Rhoda tells the gathered that Peter is at the door, but they say that she must have seen Peter's angel.

Elie Wiesel on Joseph

"Jacob refused him nothing. He owned the most beautiful clothes, for he liked to be regarded as graceful and elegant. He craved attention. He knew he was the favorite and often boasted of it. Moreover, he was given to whims and frequently was impertinent. Arrogant, vain, insensitive to other people's feelings, he said freely whatever was on his mind. We know the consequences: he was hated, mistreated, and finally sold by his brothers, who in truth were ready to kill him."

Messengers of God, Elie Wiesel

Grasping at Mandrakes

Alice C. Linsley

The idea that the physical properties of a plant indicate its uses is very ancient. In the Middle Ages this was called the "Doctrine of Signatures" or the "Doctrine of Similitudes."

According to the Doctrine of Signatures or Similitudes “like cures like”  so that the physical appearance of a stone or a plant was perceived by archaic man to indicate the uses of the stone or plant. An orphic poem contains allusions to the virtues of gem-stones. The blood-red color of a jasper suggested the stone's use in treating haemorrhage; a green jasper brought fertility to the soil; and the purple wine-colour of amethyst pointed to its use in preventing intoxication. (Both animals and gemstones served as totems for clans and tribes. This is the significance of the 12 gemstones on the priestly breastplate of Aaron.)

The Mandrake plant (shown right), with parts resembling male and female organs, was believed to stimulate fertility. This is why both Rachel and Leah desired it in their baby-making competition.  

The Mandrake usually grows as a weed in wheat fields. Reuben found the plants at the time of harvest and brought them to his mother Leah (Gen. 30:14).  Anxious to conceive, Rachel bargained with Leah, saying that Jacob would sleep with Leah in exchange for the plants.
 
The Mandrake consists of several large dark green leaves that lie flat upon the ground forming a rosette. In winter, a cluster of purple flowers appears in the center of this rosette. The root of the mandrake can be several feet long and weigh several pounds. The ovary or testicle-shaped fruits, mentioned in Song of Songs, are produced in the early summer and have a pleasant fragrance like ripe cantaloupe.  The fruits are green when they first appear and turn a deep gold color when mature.

A traditional cure for female sterility was to place a date from the date palm (tamar) in the vagina of the barren women. The date nut exterior husk (shown above) resembles the vagina and the womb. From Pre-Dynastic times the tamar was associated with females and was a symbol of fertility. Deborah judged from her tamar between Bethel and Ramah.

How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!
This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.
I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof...

-Song of Solomon, Chapter 7:6-8

The Doctrine of Signatures exerted considerable influence in Europe until late in the 17th century, but the idea is found much earlier in Africa and was developed by ancient Greek herbalists. Jakob Böhme (1575–1624) claimed to have had a mystical vision in which he saw the relationship between God and man signaled in all created things. In 1621, he wrote Signatura Rerum (The Signature of All Things) in which he applied the doctrine to the medicinal uses suggested by the form of plants.


Related reading:  The Mandrake in Folk Medicine

Features of Horite Hebrew Religion

Relief at Angkhor Wat shows Horus as a falcon on the Mast of Ra's solar boat.

Alice C. Linsley

Ancient world societies were characterized by a structure that resembles a caste system with hierarchy of  rulers, priests, scribes and warriors ranked at the top. These societies were centered around the major water systems: great rivers, troughs, and large lakes, which were controlled by the rulers.

The rulers were served by priests who stood as intermediaries between God and the people. They were called sarki, a word of African origin. Among the ancient Egyptians the word meant priest. In Hausa sarki is the word for king (See Charles Henry Robinson, Dictionary of Hausa, XXIV Preface). Auran saraki refers to the king's minister and is usually rendered chief.

Horite Hebrew ruler-priests were also called Habiru which is the English word Hebrew. The term "Hebrew" is derived from the Akkadian word for priest, abru. The Hebrew were a caste of priests. Some were devotees of God the Father and God the Son. These are known as the Horite Hebrew, and Abraham was among them.

They served at the Sun temples, called O-piru. These were elevated sites near permanent water sources. They spread their religion from west central Africa to the Indus River Valley and southern Europe. This religious life shares distinctive features, which are found in the Bible, including:

• Hereditary priesthood and hereditary kingship: Originally the ruler and the priest were either the same person or the ruler had his own priest, who would have been a member of his family. The royal and priestly lines intermarried to preserve their bloodlines. These ruler-priests, whose lines intermarried, influenced the spread of their religious worldview from west central Africa to Nepal and Cambodia.

• Shrines and temples along rivers, or near springs, well or oases, and at higher elevations: The Horite Hebrew ruler-priests controlled the ancient water ways. This is why they build their shrines and temples near water. This also explains why Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses all met their wives at wells. These women were the daughters of ruler-priests. About 75% of the women named in the Old Testament are the daughters of priests.  The ancient Kushite rulers made coronation journeys between 3 shrines on the Nile: the temples of Pnubs, Napata (Gebel Barkal) and Gematon (Kawa).

• Binary distinctions: The observation of universal opposites in nature such as night-day, male-female, heaven-earth characterized the ancient Afro-Asiatic worldview. This is quite different from Asian dualism in which the opposites are of equal value or strength. Among the ancient Afro-Asiatics, one of the two was regarded as superior in some way to the other. The Sun is greater than the Moon which merely reflects the Sun's light. Males are bigger and stronger than females.  Heaven is more glorious than Earth, etc. This enabled prophets to discern God’s will by reading the signs in creation and directing the people toward the superior sign. The binary distinctions are observable as the pattern of nature and have been the basis for Law and Ethics for about 12,000 years.

The biblical worldview involves binary opposites and supplementary. Supplementary is about meaning. That is to say that meaning is derived from the relationship of the binary opposites. Supplementary is what makes a relationship meaningful. In fact, meaning is derived from the supplementary nature of two things. I experience hateful acts as evil because I have experience of loving acts and know them to be good. The reverse is also true. The male-female relationship has meaning because of the supplementary nature of male-female. Supplementary doesn’t mean equal, since one of the opposites is perceived as greater in some way. This is how the biblical worldview avoids the dualism.

• Fixed order of creation: God created the world and established a predictable fixed order to His creation (Genesis 1; Psalm 104:19-20, Jeremiah 33:19-36). This predictable order is referred to as ‘RTA’ in Hinduism. It is an order which we perceive foremost as having binary opposites: God-Man; Heaven-Earth; Male-Female; Sun-Moon; Night-Day, etc. Because the order is fixed, entities can only be what they were created (as Aristotle recognized in his teleological conversations). What we often call 'change' or evolution is fluctuation in outward form but not change in essence. So water is always water (H2O) though its form fluctuates between liquid, vapor, and ice. This is where the biblical worldview and convergence evolution knock heads. By fixed order the Bible means that God established the order of creation with flexible but fixed boundaries. This means that there is change within species but not change from one species to a totally different species, as implied by Darwinian evolution.

Referring to Proverbs 8:33, Ibn Erza holds that the phrase al-tifra-u means something like "don't change the order." The verse says: "Listen to my instruction and become wise. Don't change the order."

The Horite Hebrew were devotees of God the Father and God the Son. The son is known as Horus, meaning "the One on high" or Enki, meaning ruler over the earth. The Son was believed to set the boundaries of the horizons, the directions of the winds, and the currents of the seas. Horos refers to the boundaries of an area, or a landmark, or a term. From horos come the words hour, horizon, horoscope and Horologion (both the book and the wind tower). The association of Horus with the horizon is seen in the word Har-ma-khet, meaning Horus of the Horizon. The association of Horus with the wind is seen in the word Har-mat-tan, referring to the dry wind that seasonally blows across the Sahara.The word horotely describes the rate and boundaries of evolutionary change for a given group of plants or animals.

This Horite Hebrew understanding of the fixed order of creation is fundamental to their religion and to a Biblical worldview. Saint Paul spoke of how God has made his eternal nature and divine power known in the order of creation which none can change. The Qur’an does not contain any creation stories such as those found in Genesis. However, Islam recognizes that what God has established is visible in the order of creation. The Qur’an teaches:

 Verily in the heavens and the earth are signs for those who believe. And in the creation of yourselves, and the fact that animals are scattered (through the earth), are signs for those of assured faith. And in the alternation of night and day, and that fact that Allah sends down sustenance from the sky, and revives therewith the earth after its death, and in the change of the winds, are signs for those who are wise. (45:3-5).

Likewise Romans 1:20 tell us that since the beginning of the world, God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - are clearly perceived by means of that which God created, so that everyone is without excuse. Paul is not advocated a touchy-feely, smell-a-flower-and-commune-with-Jesus theology. He is expressing the ancient belief that prolonged studious observation of the fixed and binary order of creation will serve those who seek God to know what God has revealed.


Related reading: The Substance of Abraham's Faith;  Solar Symbols that Speak of God; Spread of the Afro-Asiatic Worldview; Who Were the Horites?; The Christ in Nilotic Mythology; The Substance of Abraham's Faith; The Nilotic Origin of the Ainu; The Horite Ancestry of Jesus Christ

Why Rachel Didn't Trust Laban

Alice C. Linsley

Rachel had the misfortune of having a father who few people trusted. Even Leah, Laban's other daughter, didn't trust him.  When Jacob proposed a plan to escape from servitude to Laban, his two wives were quick to support him, saying: "Are we still likely to inherit anything form our father's estate?  Does he not think of us as outsiders now? For not only has he sold us, but he has completely swallowed up the money he got for us." (Gen. 31:14,15, NJB)

Rachel and Leah had seen how Laban treated Jacob. As Jacob explained, "You yourselves know that I have worked for your father with all my might, and that your father has tricked me, changing my wages ten times over..." (31:6, NJB)

As Rachel and Leah were Jacob's cousin brides, one of them should have named their first born son after Laban.  The fact that neither did this suggests the possibility that neither son was in line to inherit Laban's territory. It is also possible that they declined their prerogative of naming their first-born sons after their father because by doing so they designated the sons as Laban's possession.[1]

Jacob and his wives were aware that Laban didn't plan to honor any agreements that might strengthen Jacob's position as a ruler.  Laban had other sons and they were jealous of Jacob's successes. These sons were saying, "Jacob has taken everything that belonging to our father; it is at our father's expense that he has acquired all this wealth." (31:1, NJB)  Rachel and Leah's brothers were watching for the right moment to deal with Jacob, for Jacob had to make plans with his wives out in the fields where he kept his flocks (31:4).  That way they wouldn't be overheard.

The plan involved leaving Paddan-Aram while Laban was away shearing sheep. Laban formed a war party with his brothers and went after Jacob.  When he located him, Laban pitched his tents on Mount Gilead from which he has a view of Jacob's tents on the hills below.  Laban was extremely angry because he felt that Jacob had stolen his daughters and the ancestor figurines which he had inherited from Terah, called Teraphim.  His thoughts were murderous, but the Lord cautioned Laban in a dream not to cause trouble with Jacob (31:24). For all his faults, Laban apparently feared God enough to seek a non-violent resolution.

According to Hurrian records, ancestor figurines [2] were passed to the son who would be heir to the father's territory. Laban intended that the Teraphim would go to one of his first-born sons. [3]  Jacob would never rule over Laban's territory, but there was still the threat of Leah's first-born who was named for the great Afro-Asiatic ruler Reu, son of Peleg in whose time the tribes became geographically separated.  At some point after Peleg, the Arameans became jealous of their control in the north while their brother Horites controlled the southern territories. The time of division began about 5 generations before Abraham, and involved a geographical separation, not a change in the marriage pattern of these ruling houses.

By taking the ancestor figurines, Rachel hoped to gain legal leverage for her first-born son in the southern territories. Rachel's first-born son was Joseph. Might this have given Joseph's brothers greater motivation to get rid of him?

This explains why Jacob named Rachel's second son Ben-Jamin, which means "son of the south." It was in the south, in Judah, that the promise of Genesis 3:15 would be fulfilled [4]. See diagram below.

This also explains why, according to Judges 1:21, the men of Benjamin did not force out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem.  The Jebusites and the Dedanites were southern kin to Benjamin.

NOTES

1. The famed Cultural Anthropologist Claude Levi-Stauss observed in 1949 that mother and son do not belong to the same clan in a patrilineal system of descent. The bride belongs to the house of her husband, but the first-born son of the couin or niece bride belongs to the house of the bride's father.  Example from the Genesis 4 and 5 King Lists: While Lamech's daughter belonged to the house of her husband, Methuselah, her first-born son belonged to her father's house. That was indicated by naming the son Lamech after his maternal grandfather.

2. The ancient Sao culture of Chad and Cameroon produced elaborate human figure sculptures, representing deified ancestors. Carbon-14 dates for the Sao figurines range from the 5th century BC to the 18th century AD. The Sao are the ancestors of the Sara who make up to 30% of Chad's population. About a sixth of them are Christians.  The Sara (meaning to laugh) have a 3-tribe confederation like that of Abraham's African ancestors.

3.  Afro-Asiatic chiefs had two wives and therefore almost always had two first-born sons.

4. Gen. 3:15 is the first divine promise made in the Bible. It involves the promise made to "the Woman' that she would bring forth a Son who would crush the head of the Serpent.

Alice C. Linsley's Research on Genesis

Just Genesis is "an interesting blog dedicated to anthropological sleuthing of pre-Abrahamic origins."-- Madison Gentsch

Alice's analysis of the kinship pattern of the biblical Hebrew "opened my eyes to understand not just Genesis and not just the Pentateuch, but the whole diacronic layers in all of the Old Testament."--Shalom Rutgaizer, Israeli archaeologist (Tel Aviv University)

"Alice C. Linsley is an original and originals are few."-- Dr. Catherine Acholonu

"If only Christian discourse in this country were filled with such enlightened, such profound insights into the origins of human thought and life! You do us all a great service in writing things like this."-- Arturo Vasquez

"She has an excellent blog. I am amazed at the sources she analyzes and presents in her blog."-- Dr. Clyde Winters

"I read the material she has gratuitously given me in response to my questions. I read it and make my own assessment. I am not an anthropologist, but I do have a pretty good BS detector. Her material and artifacts and explanations make sense to me and are both fascinating and enlightening. Could she be in error? Sure. Is she knowledgeable? Definitely. The main thing I noticed about @Alice_Linsley is that when I give her new data, new genomic studies, she is able to mesh it up with her previous work. If it matches up she will tell you, if it contradicts, she will also tell you. She does follow the data where it goes, so she is doing real science. Does her Christian beliefs help or hinder her scientific work? I say it helps, as her faith inspires her. Because she will honestly report and mesh the new findings and these new findings or changes to her understanding through science have NO IMPACT on her faith."-- Patrick Trischitta

"As much as Alice and I disagree, I have read her web site, and I appreciate her scholarship concerning Genesis. I will not attempt to summarize another’s scholarship, but it appears to be quite interesting."--Caleb Powers

"Alice, thank you so much for your research and blog. I am in my senior year at an evangelical university and taking a course in Genesis, but cannot reconcile with what's being taught. Your work has encouraged my faith in a way that words fail right now." - Adam

"Alice, you are doing awesome work."-- Father Rick Lobs

"You are an excellent researcher. Your insights have the effect of exploding fluorescence. You have made me feel like the eons gone past are just within our reach; we don't need to look very far."--John Ogutu (Luo language consultant)

"Alice, I am thoroughly taken with your blog - - what a wonderful gift! Keep up the great work."--Dr. William G. Brown (Provost Midway University, Kentucky)

"In terms of tertiary studies, I learned Old Testament from 'extreme liberals' as well as 'moderate conservatives.' Then for years I felt satisfied that, although by no means a specialist, I had worked out a sensible approach to the Old Testament that was authentically Christian while avoiding the pitfalls of fundamentalism, marcionism and liberalism . . . especially with regard to the Book of Genesis. 

That was until I found Alice Linsley's work. 

One of my favourite blogs is JUST GENESIS which combines her biblical, historical, theological, cultural, anthropological and archaeological research, and takes the reader into fascinating areas which really do make sense (and have caused me to change quite a number of my previously held views!)." -- Bishop David Chislett SSC  (Read more here.)

"Alice, you are an amazing scholar! I have been searching for toponymic evidence for Enoch in Africa for a long time. You are a brave pioneer. Your blog is a box of jewels. I wish I could examine each gem more closely."-- Susan Burns, Biblical Anthropologist

"I have been immersed, (baptized) in your remarkable scholarship and compelling style. Thank you for sharing your gift and what can only be described as a passion." -- Father David W. Cardona

"The significance of my research is that I have identified the marriage and ascendancy pattern of Abraham's Horite Hebrew caste and have demonstrated that this marriage structure drove Kushite expansion out of Africa and the diffusion of the Proto-Gospel. Using the tools of kinship analysis, I have traced the Horite Hebrew ancestry of Jesus from his earliest named ancestors in Genesis 4 and 5 to the New Testament. I investigate Genesis from an anthropological perspective. Read more here." --Alice C. Linsley

Read other reactions to Alice's research here.

Unique among all the blogs on creation and evolution, JUST GENESIS:

• takes an anthropological (empirical) approach to the study of Genesis
• acknowledges the great age of the earth and of human existence
• refutes Young Earth Creationist dogma, showing that it is not Biblical
• rejects unsubstantiated aspects of Darwinian/Neo-Darwinian theory
• asserts that Genesis interprets itself on questions of origins
• shows that the first verifiably historical persons in Genesis are kings listed in Genesis 4 and 5
• examines the text's original cultural context, that of ancient Nilotic and Proto-Saharan peoples
• argues that Genesis is not about human origins ultimately. It is about the origin of Messianic expectation among Abraham's ancestors

About one-quarter of Genesis is the story of God’s dealings with Abraham and his ancestors (chapter 1-12). The other chapters deal with Abraham's descendants before the establishment of Israel. Because this is so, we must recognize that the promise concerning the coming of the Seed of God by the Woman (Gen. 3:15) does not originate with the Jews. It is much older. The expectation was preserved by Abraham's ancestors to whom the promise was first made in Eden, a well-watered region that extended from the Nile to the Tigris-Euphrates Valley.

The bulk of my research focuses on the first quarter of the book, material that is often dismissed as non-historical or simply ignored. Using the tools of cultural anthropology, I'm working to uncover antecedents of the religion and social structure of Abraham and his ancestors. This involves looking for anthropologically significant data and analysis of the Genesis king lists. The oldest culture traits  are those that are the most widely diffused geographically among the rulers in Haplogroup R1. Among this dispersed peoples we find the same artifacts and religious practices that suggest a common ancestry.

All the articles at Just Genesis are listed by topic and alphabetically arranged in the INDEX. Articles on Biblical Anthropology can be found at my other blog by that name.


Looking for Patterns through the Lens of Anthropology
 
To understand the Bible we must look for patterns that first appear in Genesis. In this sense, Genesis is the foundation to a proper understanding of the whole Bible. Often the patterns are more evident when we focus on the women because blood lines were traced through the mothers as well as through the fathers. So it is peculiar that the mothers of some of the most important male figures are not named in the Bible: Abraham's mother, David's mother, etc.

The Genesis king lists in 4, 5, 10, 11 25 and 36 are important because they help us to understand the Bible's purpose. From beginning to end, the Bible is about the royal-priest ancestry of Jesus, who Christians believe to be Messiah, the Son of God. It is possible to trace His ancestry because of the cousin bride's naming prerogative, whereby the cousin wife named her first-born son after her father.  This is why there are multiple rulers with the same name. There is Lamech the Elder, who bragged to his two wives, and his grandson, Lamech the Younger, the first-born of Methuselah by Lamech's daughter, Naamah. There is Esau the Elder and his grandson, Esau, the brother of Jacob. Esau the Elder was a contemporary of Seir the Horite (Gen. 36) and their lines intermarried. Esau the Younger, Jacob's brother, married Seir's great-great granddaughter, Oholibamah.

The cousin-bride's naming prerogative is found from Genesis 4 to Numbers and beyond, so it is not coincidental, but characteristic of the unique marriage and ascendancy pattern of the rulers of Abraham's people. Scholars like Noth, Albright, Speiser, etc. concluded that Genesis 4 and Genesis 5 represent different oral or textual traditions of the same ruling line. However, this is NOT what the Bible claims, and I take the Bible's claims seriously. The rulers listed in Genesis 4 are the descendants of Cain and those listed in Genesis 5 are the descendants of Seth. These lines intermarried As shown in the diagram below). The connecting link is Naamah, the only woman named in the kings lists of Genesis 4 and 5.

All of the men listed in Genesis 4 and 5 are rulers who had two wives. One wife was a half-sister (as Sarah was to Abraham) and the other was either a patrilineal cousin or a niece (as Keturah was to Abraham).  The cousin bride named her first-born son after her father because this son became a high ranking official (vizier) in the territory of his maternal grandfather. Lamech's daughter, Naamah married Methuselah, her patrilineal cousin and named their first born son Lamech, because this son would rule over Lamech the elder's territory, not over Methuselah's territory. This is what Claude Lévi-Strauss discovered in his studies of primitive peoples (1949). He noted that in a patriarchal system, mother and son do not belong to the same clan. However, the social structure of the biblical Hebrew is not entirely patriarchal. (For more on this, see the 7-part series, beginning here.)

The cultural patterns of the ancient Afro-Asiatic Semites and the Horite Hebrew caste are presented in Genesis more explicitly than in any other text. Reading the text through the lens of anthropology help us to identify significant data and to interpret it empirically, removing a great deal of speculation. This is where my theology is rooted.

How I became interested in Anthropology

At a young age I was exposed to different cultures. This marks the beginning of my fascination with customs, artifacts and beliefs, a fascination that would later take me into the study of Anthropology. Much of my Genesis research draws on the disciplines of Anthropology, especially kinship analysis.

I have experienced societies in the Philippines, Spain, India, Thailand, Iran, Greece and many parts of the USA. At age eight, I visited the headhunters in the mountains of Luzon and even have a photo of my 6-foot tall father standing next to the 4-foot spear-carrying chief of the village. I attended Catholic Mass in a pew-less village church with a hard-packed dirt floor with chickens scurrying about our feet. 

As an adult, I studied two tribal groups while living in Iran and attended Divine Liturgy at the Armenian cathedral in Jolfa (Isfahan). I explored Orthodoxy again in Greece where I observed the Divine Liturgy and visited the Icon Museum in Athens.

I studied solar symbolism, and traced the 6-prong sun symbol (shown above) among the R1b populations from the Lake Chad area to Israel, Anatolia, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, and the British Isles.

Essentially, I am pioneering a new field: Biblical Anthropology. I have found that the Bible is as reliable for anthropological study as it is for biblical archaeology. It has preserved information that is critical to understanding the antecedents of the Messianic Faith. This is because the Afro-Asiatic Semites preserved the received tradition and honored the celestial pattern that we might call the "Proto-Gospel." In a 5,000 year old text, the Egyptian scribe, Ptah Hotep, states:

"Don’t modify anything from your father’s [ancestor’s] teachings/instructions—not even a single word. And let this principle be the cornerstone for teachings to future generations."

Mircea Eliade (1907-1986) was a Romanian historian of religion who observed that for archaic man “real” objects and events are those that imitate, repeat or are patterned upon a celestial archetype. He believed that “the man who has made his choice in favor of a profane life never succeeds in completely doing away with religious behavior.” (The Sacred and the Profane)  He is right. Even the most devout atheist enjoys liberties that are wrought by religious men.

Eliade wrote, "On Mount Sinai Jehovah shows Moses the 'form' of the sanctuary that he is to build for him: 'According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments therefor, even so shall ye make it.... And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount' (Exodus 25:9, 40). And when David gives his son Solomon the plan for the temple buildings, for the tabernacle, and for all their utensils, he assures him that 'All this... the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern" (I Chronicles 28:19). Hence he had seen the celestial model." (The Myth of the Eternal Return, p. 7)

The tabernacle and the temple on Zion were built according to the pattern of the Horite Hebrew shrines, with east-facing entrances, pillars, water sources, and three central chambers. This should not surprise us since Moses was the son of a Horite Hebrew priest, and David was the son of shepherd-priest who lived in the Horite Hebrew settlement of Bethlehem (1 Chron. 4:4). Both are descendants of earlier Horite Hebrew ruler-priests. They were responsible for protecting and upholding the pattern that they received from their righteous ancestors. Those ancestors knew God as the Father by the names Ra and Ani. The Father's Son was known by the names Horus or Enki. The Spirit or breath of God was called Enlil. The central myth reveals the Messianic pattern by which the Apostles and subsequent generations of Christians recognize Jesus to be the Son of God, the Messiah, who came into the world to save sinners, such as me. It also reveals a very early belief in a divine Trinity.

Finally, I apologize for any inaccuracies found at JUST GENESIS. This is a work in progress. I believe it to be an important work. Please pray for me.


Related reading: The Substance of Abraham's Faith; In Defense of Biblical Anthropology; Reactions to My Genesis Research; The Genesis King Lists, Samuel's Horite Hebrew Family; The Horite Ancestry of Jesus Christ; Jesus Fulfills the Horus Myth; Horite Mounds; Early Resurrection Texts; The Ra-Horus-Hathor Narrative

Three-Clan Confederations to Twelve Tribes

Alice C. Linsley

Some groups in Genesis are three-clan confederations (such as Isaac's 3 sons) and others are described as twelve-tribe confederations. Nahor, Abraham's older brother, was the progenitor of twelve Aramean tribes through his twelve sons, of whom eight were born to him by Milcah and four by Reumah (Gen. 22.20-24).

Three clan confederations are fairly common. The Jebusite confederation is Yoruba, Egba and Ketu.  In Canaan, the 3-clan Jebusite confederation consisted of Sheba, Jebu and Joktan.

Among the Sara of Chad, Sudan and Somalia the confederation is comprised of the qir ka, the qin ka, and the qel ka. The Sara are descendants of the Sao, an earlier three-tribe confederation of warriors and kingdom builders. According to legend, there were giants among them.

Three clan alignments lend themselves to a larger twelve clan alignment. There is an attempt to organize Esau into a 12-tribe confederation in Genesis 36:40 but only eleven chiefs are listed.  The attempt fails because there are two named Esau. Esau the Elder was the father of Eliphaz.  Esau the Younger married Basemath who bore Reuel, and Oholibamah who bore Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah (Genesis 36:1-9). These were the people of Seir, the Horite. They were Horite Hebrew (Habiru) clans. Their socio-political organization appears to be that of 3 clans.

Ishmael, Abraham's son by an Egyptian concubine, was the progenitor of twleve Nabatean tribes:  "Nebajoth; Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations." (Genesis 25:13-16).

Jacob, a son of Isaac, is cast as the progenitor of twelve tribes: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebuln, Dan, Naphati, Gad, Asshur, Joseph and Benjamin. There is discrepancy on the number of Israelite tribes. Some count Dinah's line and some count Joseph's two sons Ephraim and Manassah.

The twelve-tribe organization appears to be the handiwork of a writer influenced by Babylonian thought. It represents an attempt to neatly classify the ruler descendants of Noah according to a celestial pattern. However, the Bible tells us that these rulers intermarried. The lines of Kain and Seth intermarried, as did the lines of Ham and Shem. The lines of Abraham and Nahor also intermarried. This means that socio-political affiliations were less formal than suggested by the twelve tribe organization. 

Further, there is evidence that the older organization comprised three sons of the same father. Where three sons appear in Genesis we have a code indicating a tribal unit of three clans.  Perhaps this is why Leah named her third son Levi, meaning "joining" (Gen. 29:34).  Likely, Leah hoped that she would be credited (and loved?) by providing Jacob with the three sons necessary to establish a tribe.

The 12-tribe organization is likely imposed upon an older order by a late source, such as the Deuteronomist Historian (c.700 BC - 250 BC). Abraham's ancestors never associated the Moon with the Creator. For them the Creator's emblem (boat or chariot) was the Sun. Veneration or worship of the Moon was characteristic of those who lived, not in Canaan, but "beyond the Euphrates." Joshua 24:2 says: “In olden times, your forefathers – Terah, father of Abraham and father of Nahor – lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods.” The implication is that Terah, whose ancestors came from Africa and Canaan, fell into worshiping contrary to his fathers’ tradition while living “beyond the Euphrates.” This is historically accurate since Abraham's Horite Hebrew ancestors never worshiped the Moon, as was done in Ur and Haran.

Martin Noth, in his seminal work "The Scheme of the Twelve Tribes of Israel" (1930), demonstrated that the Twelve Tribes of Israel did not exist prior to the covenant assembly at Shechem described in the book of Joshua.

The Joshua passage shares with the Deuteronomistic History a common concern about idolatry, and places the covenant at Shechem at precisely the location where God appeared to Abraham in 3
Three Persons (Gen. 18). Here in reference to the Godhead, the number three speaks of one-ness or unity; the God of Three: "Baal Shalisha."
  
There is more evidence in the Bible for the 3-clan organization than for the 12-tribe organization. Consider the Horite Hebrew confederations of Uz, Huz and Buz and Magog Og and Gog. Here are some of the three-clan confederations listed in Scripture:

Cain Abel Seth (Gen. 4-5)
Ham Japheth Shem (Gen. 5-9)
Og Gog Magog (Gen. 10 and Nu. 21:33)
Haran Nahor Abraham (Gen. 11-12)
Ishmael Jokshan Isaac (Gen. 16, 21, and 25)
Jeush Jalam Korah (Gen. 36: 4-18)
Korah Moses Aaron (Ex. and Nu.)
Dedan Tema Buz (Jeremiah 25)


Related reading: Three Clan Confederations of the Bible

Analysis of the Genesis 4 and 5 King Lists

The pattern of two wives is illustrated in the case of Lamech the elder.

Related reading:  The Genesis King Lists

The Serpent of Eden

Alice C. Linsley


Genesis tells us that Eden was a vast well-watered region extending from the Upper Nile Valley to the Tigris/Euphrates Valley.  This was the center of the Afro-Asiatic Dominion and here the oldest known divine promise was made to Mankind (Gen. 3:15).  Actually, that promise was made to "the Woman" (not Eve) concerning her Offspring who would crush the head of the serpent.[1]  To crush the head is an image of utter defeat.  So this is a promise about the victory of the Son over all that the serpent of Eden represents.

Nubian jar 300 BC

To better understand the Son's victory, we will explore what the Serpent of Eden represents in the context of the binary framework of Afro-Asiatic worldview in which the foremost distinction is always between the Creator God and the creation. This stands in contrast to religions in which this distinction is erased.

The serpent motif is found in Africa, Arabia, Pakistan, India, Central Asia and the Americas.  It is a significant symbol among traditional Africans and Native Americans, and in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. It is often found with symbols of the Sun and the Tree of Life. The great antiquity of these symbols is attested by their wide diffusion [2], yet their meaning has remained fairly stable in each religion.

Among archaic peoples the serpent was regarded as having powers to communicate [3], to deceive, to heal, to hide, to reveal and to protect. The oldest serpent veneration is associated with the 70,000 year old python stone carved in a mountainside in Botswana.

In Hindu mythology, the serpent-dragon RahuKetu tried to drink the nectar of immortality churned by the devas. The Solar and Lunar deities saw RahuKetu trying to do this and told Vishnu. Vishnu then threw his discus, cutting the dragon into Rahu (head) and Ketu (below the head) [4], but the dragon had already consumed the nectar and was thus immortal. Essentially, the serpent takes on divinity.

In the Gilgamesh Epic (Babylonian tale) Gilgamesh retrieves the Plant of Rejuvenation from the bottom of the sea. One evening as he was bathing in a pool, a serpent appeared and ate the Plant that Gilgamesh had left on the shore. The serpent then sloughed its skin and disappeared.  Here too is the implication that the serpent becomes immortal.

In Buddhist mythology, Buddha is often shown meditating under the hood of a seven-headed serpent (naga in Sanskrit; nahash in Hebrew). The serpent protects him from the rain. In another story, the celestial nagas shower the earth with rain as a blessing. They are deities in Buddhism, no longer simple creatures.

Jesus thought of the serpent as a creature with both positive and negative qualities, but never as an immortal being. He used serpent imagery to condemn the hypocrisy of the Jewish rulers: "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of Gehenna?" (Matthew 23:33)  Yet earlier in Matthew's Gospel He sent forth his Apostles with this exhortation: "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16).

The ancient Greeks considered snakes sacred to Asclepius, the god of medicine. Asclepius carried a staff with one or two serpents wrapped around it. This has become the symbol of modern physicians. The ancient symbol of Ouroboros consists of a dragon or a snake curled into a hoop, consuming its own tail. In this image the serpent represents the eternal cycle of life.

As snakes shed their skins, revealing shiny new skins underneath, they symbolize rebirth, transformation, immortality, and healing.  In his novel The Voyage of the Dawn Treader C. S. Lewis uses this image to describe how sin can be sloughed only with Aslan's help. Eustace has turned into a dragon [5] and before he can step into the waters (Baptism) he must shed his scaley layers.  He sheds three layers but can't free himself to be the human he was originally created. Aslan must rip away the layers of sin before Eustace can step free.

In ancient Egyptian mythology, Apopis was a water serpent and a symbol of chaos. He is shown (right) being slain by Hathor, Ra's cat. Another story tells of how each night Apopis attacked Ra, the High God, but the serpent Mehen coiled himself around Ra's solar boat to protect Ra. This also illustrates the binary nature of ancient Egyptian thought, since the power of Mehen to protect is superior to the power of Apopis to destroy. This binary element is key to understanding the victory of Jesus Christ, whose victory is assured because He is one with the Father, not a creature.

In Exodus we read how Moses held up a rod which turned into a serpent and all who looked upon it were spared when they were bitten by vipers. The exalted Serpent was superior in every way to the serpents who attacked the Israelites in the wilderness. The Church Fathers interpreted this as a sign pointing to Jesus on the Cross. The Apostle John had this in mind when he wrote about how Jesus would be "lifted up from the earth" and thereby draw all Mankind to the Father (John 3: 14 and John 12:32).

The serpent of Eden is like those vipers in the wilderness. It is intent on spreading its poison and it achieves that end by means of confusion and deceit.  Here is how the serpent is described:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Gen. 3:1-5)

The serpent of Eden symbolizes deception, the promise of forbidden knowledge and self-elevation. It is not a deity, but it is "more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made."  Nevertheless, the serpent of Eden is very much a creature. The distinction between the Creator and the creature is clear.
 
The rabbis identify the serpent of Eden as Satan, the one who decieves and accuses 364 days of the year. Only on Yom Kippur is Satan not able to accuse.  That is the Day of Atonement. For those who believe that Jesus is the Son promised to the Woman in Eden, that is the day of Christ's atoning work on the Cross.  That day the Crucified One ripped away the great deception so that we who believe in Him might step free.
 
 
NOTES
1. The "Woman" of Gen. 3:15 is Mary, the Mother of Christ, our God. She is sometimes shown standing on a hemisphere with the serpent beneath Her foot.
 
2. Diffusion is the process by which a cultural trait, material object, idea, symbol or behavior pattern is spread from one society to another, often traceable to a central point or a point of origin. A principle of anthropology states that the wider the diffusion of a culture trait, the older the trait.  The point of origin for serpent veneration appears to be southern Africa.

3. Shinto shrines have snake pits where shamans go into trace states to communicate with the serpents and to communicate a message to humans from the serpent.

4. Ketu is the name of one of the 3 founders of the Jebusites. There are two Jebu territories and three founding brothers: Yoruba, Egba and Ketu. This 3-clan patriarchal confederation is typical of Abraham's African ancestors. Jebusite influence is reflected by the presence of the bronze serpent in the Israelite cult with many such serpent images having been found at Canaanite shrines in Gezer, Hazor, Meggido and Jerusalem.

5. In Christian iconography the serpent of Eden is often shown as a dragon.  Many famous paintings depict the serpent's defeat by either St. George or St. Michael, the Archangel.


Related reading:  Serpent Symbolism; The Cosmic Serpent Exposed; The Serpent from Africa to India

The Enigma of Joseph

Painted wooden stela showing the deceased (right) making an offering to Re-Harakhty. From the tomb of Aafenmut in Thebes. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

Alice C. Linsley


Joseph (Yosef), the favored son of Jacob, is an enigma. Joseph's elevation to a high position in Egypt and his marriage to Asenath of Heliopolis, a Horite Hebrew shrine city, suggest that he was a rightful heir to something back in Egypt. However, everything in Genesis about Jacob points to a late attempt to reshape the material to fit the Jewish narrative. We are told that Jacob's 2 wives, Leah and Rachel, were sisters. How did that affect the status of their first-born sons: Reuben and Joseph? Certainly, in the narrative's present form, Joseph does not fit the pattern of a sent-away son. He fits the pattern of a cousin bride's son who goes to serve as a high official in the territory of his maternal grandfather.

How likely is it that this high-born youth was sold as a slave? He was familiar enough with the customs of Egyptian nobility to adapt to life in Potiphar's house, and he went from slave to influential ruler. 

To understand the enigma of Joseph we must consider the finer details of his story.

He was the son of a Horite Hebrew ruler, Jacob/Yacob.

He was designated to rule, as evidenced by the Canaanite Y in his name - Yosef, a sign of divine appointment to rule.

He was already Egyptianized before going to Egypt. Egypt's cultural influence and military control of Canaan lasted from c. 2000 to 1200 BC. Joseph lived in Canaan during that period.

He married Asenath, a daughter of a Horite Hebrew priest of On (Heliopolis). Heliopolis was a prestigious temple complex.

In Moses' time, Zelophehad's daughters inherited property after petitioning Moses to render a judgement on this dispute connected to a land holding of Manasseh, the oldest son of Joseph and Asenath (Num. 27). In the Book of Chronicles, Zelophehad is listed as a son of Manasseh whose original land holdings were in Egypt.

The present account of Joseph likely comes from a source dating to the later Neo-Babylonian period (c.700-300 BC). The purpose is to explain the assignment of land holdings in Canaan. However, this story of Zelophehad's daughter petitioning Moses for their inheritance comes before the Israelites entered the Promised Land. Zelophehad's holdings were with the clan of Manasseh which had deep roots in Egypt. However, this does not serve the Deuteronomist's narrative. This later source would have us believe that all the Hebrew people left Egypt, never to return there.

Joseph's Saga

Joseph's story serves as the transition from the patriarchal narratives to the Exodus. After his death, he was mummified as a high-ranking Egyptian and buried in Goshen, adjacent to Avaris. Avaris was founded by Amenemhet I, the first king of the 12th dynasty. Archaeological and anthropological evidence indicates that the settlers of Goshen were people from Canaan who shared many features of Egyptian culture. This would be expected if Abraham's people were Horites, a priesthood devoted to Horus of the Two Crowns.

During the Second Intermediate Period, coinciding with the time of biblical Joseph, the Egyptians experienced an influx of Canaanites. These Semites had settlements in Tanis, Avaris and el-Yehudiya. The Egyptians called the chiefs of these settlements "Hyk Khase", the origin of the term Hyksos.

Horite ruler-priests were careful to marry chaste daughters of priests. It is not a coincidence then that Joseph married Asenath, daughter of the "priest of On" (Gen. 41:45), called Heliopolis (city of the Sun) by the Greeks. Asenath's father was a Horite Hebrew priest and the Horite priestly lines intermarried.  If the sons of Horite priests married the daughter of Horite priests, their sons were also in the caste of priests.

Asenath, Joseph's wife, was probably Joseph's cousin. Her first-born son likely belonged to the Heliopolis shrine, whereas Ephraim, Joseph's younger son belonged to the House of Jacob. This explains why Jacob gave him the blessing (not birthright) that pertained to the first-born (Gen. 48:14).

Moses' two older brothers - Aaron and Korah - would also have married the daughters of priests. Korah's descendants are praised in 1 Chronicles 26, where they are grouped with the gatekeepers of Obed-Edom. Obed-Edom is a connection to Ruth, who named her first-born son Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse, the father of David. This picks up the Messianic thread, pointing us back to the Horite expectation of the Son of God who was coming into the world.


Joseph's Horite Hebrew Ancestry

Horite Hebrew ruler-priests married the daughters of Horite Hebrew priests. About 75% of the women named in the Old Testament are daughters of priests. This was the practice among the royal priestly lines of Abraham’s people. By every indication, Joseph was as thoroughly immersed in the Horite Hebrew religion as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses.

The Horite caste of ruler-priests was devoted of Horus, the son of the High God, whose emblem was the sun. His queen mother was Hathor, the patroness of metal workers. Heliopolis was one of the shrines dedicated to Ra and Horus or Re-harakhty, that is, Horus of the Two Horizons (East and West). During the New Kingdom (c. 1539–1075 BC) the great temple of Re at Heliopolis rivaled that of Amon at Thebes, and the Horite Hebrew priesthood of Heliopolis wielded great influence.

Horite ruler-priests married two wives and placed them in separate households on a north-south axis. The bride of the man's youth was his half-sister, as was Sarah to Abraham. The second bride was a patrilineal cousin, as was Keturah to Abraham. Sarah resided in Hebron and Keturah resided to the south in Beersheba. There is no biblical record of Joseph taking more than one wife. However, it is significant that of his two sons - Manasseh and Ephraim - the first belonged to the house of Asenat's father, and the second was claimed by the house of Jacob (Gen. 48:20). This suggests that Manasseh and Ephraim were the first-born sons of different wives.

Traditions Concerning Joseph's Burial

In Goshen/Avaris, Joseph had a large Egyptian-style palace built over Jacob's dwelling. The palace enclosure had a garden tomb, the largest sepulcher found in Goshen. Joseph's body would have been mummified and wrapped in cloth. He may have been buried according to the custom of his Nilo-Saharan ancestors, with the body on its left side, head to the south, facing west.

According to Scripture Joseph requested that his body be removed to Canaan. Most claim that his tomb is near Nablus in Palestinian territory, a site regarded as holy by Jews, Christians and Muslims. The Tomb is located at the eastern entrance to the valley that separates Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. It is about 750 feet north of Jacob's Well, on the outskirts of Nablus, near biblical Shechem.

There is another Islamic tradition that places Joseph’s tomb in Haram al-Khalil in Hebron, in the tomb of the Patriarchs. This is the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a heavy rectangular building that encloses the underground Cave of Machpelah which was explored in 1967. This is the land and cave in Mamre that Abraham purchased for the burial of Sarah.

Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, Joseph's Tomb at Nablus was to be accessible to Jews and Christians. However, following peace talks at Camp David in September 2000, Arafat initiated his intifada in the West Bank. In October 2000, Fatah gunmen attacked the tomb repeatedly, killing two and injuring dozens, prompting Israel to evacuate Judaism's third holiest site on October 6, 2000. The attackers burned Jewish prayer books and repainted the white dome roof Muslim Green, transforming Joseph's resting place into another Muslim holy site and anachronistically pronouncing Joseph a Muslim.

Joseph does not fit the typical picture of an Israelite or an Arab. He was Horite Hebrew, a ruler-priest caste of devotees to Re, Hathor, and Horus. He married Asenath, the daughter of a Horite Hebrew high priest. She grew up at Heliopolis on the Nile.

Priest's daughters were raised at water shrines or river temples where their fathers served as priests. These were women of high rank but they did not live pampered lives. Zipporah was drawing water for livestock when she met Moses. Rebekah was likewise engaged when Abraham’s servant arrived to contract a marriage between her and Isaac. It is important to note that these priestly daughters had two sons:

Rebekah – Esau (oldest) and Jacob (youngest)
Rachel – Joseph (oldest) and Benjamin (youngest)
Asenath – Manasseh (oldest) and Ephraim (youngest)
Tamar – Zerah (oldest) and Perez (youngest)

In each case, the younger son was tagged as an ancestor of the Messiah. However, this does not mean that the older son was not an ancestor of Messiah since the Hebrew priestly lines intermarried. The elevation of the youngest son is a common theme in the Bible: David was the youngest son of Jesse. Abraham was the youngest of Terah's 3 sons; Haran, Nahor, and Abraham. 


Related reading: Joseph and Judah: Instruments of Deliverance; Ancient Canaanite Inscriptions; The Urheimat of the Canaanite Y; Moses' Horite Hebrew Family; The Pattern of Two Wives; Hebrew, Israelite, or Jew?; Sent-Away Sons

Jesus Christ's Kushite Ancestors

Alice C. Linsley


The name Seth (Set) is associated with ancient Kush in the Upper Nile in what is today southern Egypt and Sudan. In Egyptian writings this land was called Ta-Seti, meaning "Land of the Bow," referring to the weapon used by warriors and hunters of that part of Africa. Khaem-wa-set, the brother of King Seti I (1302-1290 B.C.), was the Chief of the bowmen of Kush. 

Pharaoh Seti I was likely named for an earlier Seti. While it may not be possible to trace him back to Seth, Kain’s brother, it is possible to trace Seti's Kushite origins.

In Genesis 5 we read the list of rulers who descended from Seth. The tenth from Seth is Kush, a son of Ham. African story tellers (griots) generally recount lists of rulers and ancestors to the depth of 10, so the line of Seth would look like this:

Seth
Enosh
Kain (Kenan), grandson of Kain
Mahalalel
Jared (Irad or Yared)
Enoch
Methuselah
Lamech the Younger, son of Naamah and Methuselah
Noah
Ham
Kush

The Kushites began to achieve greatness around 5,000 B.C., about 2,000 years before Noah, whose homeland is called Bor-No (Land of Noah). The oldest Kushite culture to have undergone extensive excavation is that at Kerma.[1] A funerary temple in Kerma illustrates Kush’s connections to kingdoms at its northern/Egyptian and southern/Nigerian boundaries. One interior wall depicted Egyptian fishing boats, bullfights, and an enormous crocodile. Another wall showed rows of giraffes and hippopotamuses, wildlife characteristic of the territories to the southwest of Kush/Nubia. Naqada pottery dating to about 4000 B.C. is adorned with realistic images of ostriches and ibexes, animals not found near the Nile.

The Kushites traded with kingdoms to the north and to the south. There is evidence that the clans herded cattle from the grasslands to a communal gathering place at the Nile each year. [2]  Some settled during the Chalcolithic Period on the edges of the Beersheba Valley where they lived in subterranean dwellings carved out of the limestone wth metal tools. An ivory workshop was discovered in one of these houses at Bir es-Safadi.  The Bible refers to these as Dedanites.[3]  The men shaved their heads (Jeremiah 25:23), as did Horite priests. This suggests that a confederation of Horite families lived in the Beersheba Valley. Genesis 36 confirms this, listing Dedan as a Horite ruler. Genesis 10 tells us that Dedan's father was Raamah, son of Kush. His brother was Nimrod who established a vast kingdom in the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley.

There is still much to discover about ancient Kush. Unfortunately, many Kushite artifacts were destroyed when the Aswan Dam was built. Over 45 Nubian villages were washed away along the banks of the Nile south of Aswan. Twenty-four monuments were dismantled and relocated and many others were documented before the area was flooded.

This makes the biblical record even more valuable as a tool to reconstruct a picture of ancient Kush. And that biblical record is proving to be reliable. For example, Genesis 11:3 tells us that the towers in Mesopotamia were built of fired brick, an innovation which began in Kush around 2500 B.C. Fired bricks were not used for royal buildings which were always made of stone, but was used for common houses and to build walls. The use of fired brick to build towers in Mesopotamia suggests that this advancement moved eastward from Kush into the land of Shinar. All the Mesopotamian ziggurats were built with a core of mud brick and an exterior covered with baked brick. Ziggurats were stepped temples built in Sumer, Babylon and Assyria from about 2200 until 500 BC.

Kush was the father of Nimrod. Between 1100 and 800 B.C. the name Nimrod was a popular name in Egypt, according to Chaldean Genesis.  (Jesus was baptized at an ancient Egyptian river shrine on teh Jordan. The place was called Nim-rah, meaning the waters of God.) Nimrod built cities in Mesopotamia and he probably introduced the use of fired brick. We meet Nimrod’s descendents later in the persons of Nahor and Terah, Abraham’s father. Ramaah settled in the Arabian Peninsula, south of Dedan. We meet Ramaah’s descendents later in the person of Seir the Horite.[4]

What we have here is further evidence that the lines of Ham and Shem intermarried so that the ancestors of Christ our God were Nilotic peoples.


Related reading:  Who Were the Kushites?; Who Were the Horites?; The Christ in Nilotic Mythology



NOTES
1. Kerma was excavated by the Swiss archaeologist Charles Bonnet. To read Bonnet's chronology of Kerma, go here.

2. In 1986, cattle burials were found at Qustul, south of Abul Simbel, in the heart of Kush.

3. Dedan, Tema and Buz comprized a Horite confederation. The oldest Arabic texts have been found around the Afro-Arabian oases of Tema and Dedan. Tema, known by Arabs as Taima, lies about 70 miles north-east of Dedan. Tema, Dedan and Dumah were caravan stops along the trade route from Babylon to Sheba.

4. The term Horite can't be taken anachronistically when speaking of Abraham's ancestors, who were devotees of Horus, who they regarded as the “Son of God.”


Related reading:  Biblical Anthropology and Antecedents; Who Were the Kushites?; The Christ in Nilotic Mythology; Who Were the Horites?

Methuselah's Wife

Lamech Segment Analysis
© 1998 Alice C. Linsley


According to the Hebrew Scriptures, the ruler Methuselah lived 969 years, the perfect number set in the context of ancient Egyptian numerology. By his cousin wife Naamah, he had a son named Lamech. This is Lamech the Younger named for Naamah’s father (see bottom portion of the diagram.)

Naamah and Lamech are both names associated with the rulers among Abraham's people. Naamah is a royal name as attested by the name's connection with the Davidic Dynasty. David's grandson's mother was named Naamah (II Chron. 12:13). This is also the name of a region of Judah (Joshua 15:41). Lamech is a variant of la-melech which appears on several thousand Egyptian seals. It means "of the King" or "for the King."

Lamech ruled after Methuselah and is assigned another perfect number in the Masoretic text. He is said to have lived 777 years.[1] However, while the Scriptures agree on Methuselah’s 969 years, they disagree on the numbers assigned to Lamech. The Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) assigns Lamech 753 years, whereas the Samaritan Pentateuch assigns him 653 years. The Masoretic text provides the number that fits the biblical pattern. St. John Chrysostom noted the assignment of 7 to Cain, 77 to Lamech the Elder, and 777 to Lamech the Younger and believed that the number 7 in these cases speaks of God’s mercy shown to sinners.

It is likely that seven represents the seven visible planets and is linked to astrological concepts of ancient Egypt. We may never know exactly what these number sets signify, but the association of such auspicious numbers – 6, 7 and 9 – with Methuselah and his son Lamech indicate their greatness.[2]

Some view Lamech the Younger, named in Genesis 5, as the same Lamech named in Genesis 4 who bragged about killing a man. This is a mistake. Lamech the Elder is not presented as a righteous man, but as a braggart who set himself up as an equal to God.[3] Lamech the Younger, on the other hand, is the son of a righteous father and the father of Noah who found favor with God.

Why should there be such discrepancy in the number of years assigned to Lamech the Younger? Possibly the Septuagint didn’t recognize that there are two different persons named Lamech. Or the discrepancy might indicate dispute over Lamech’s character among the different recensions. Or it simply may be that the Septuagint and the Samaritan texts reflect lack of understanding of the kinship pattern of Abraham’s ruling ancestors.

I believe the discrepancy in numbers assigned to Lamech the Younger indicates lack of understanding of the kinship pattern. In this patrilineal system involving royalty and ascent to the throne, mother and first-born son do not belong to the same clan. The bride belongs to her husband’s clan while her son, if given her father’s throne name, belongs to the bride’s clan. The brilliant anthropologist, Lévi-Strauss recognized this in 1949, but his research was largely ignored by biblical scholars.

So it is that Naamah belonged to Methuselah’s clan, of the lne of Seth, while their first-born son belonged to the clan of his maternal grandfather, of the line of Kain.

NOTES



1.  The number seven has special significance as related to the first-born son’s marriage and his reception of a kingdom. In Jewish weddings the seven marriage blessings (Sheva Brachot) are recited under the huppah and the wedding feast lasts seven days. The assignment of 777 to Lamech the Younger symbolizes the son's marriage and ascension to the throne of his father.

2. Numbers were associated with totems such as the Lion, the Falcon, the Baboon, etc. The four sons of Horus are an example. Imsety is shown with a man’s head. Tuamutf is shown with a jackel’s head. Kabhsenuf is shown with a baboon’s head, and Hapi is shown with a falcon or hawk’s head. Mummification involved removing the body's organs which were placed in four jars adorned with the heads of these four sons. These four stood as guardians over the organs until such a time as the Ka and the Ba could be united, thus avoiding the second death (of which John speaks). Likewise, the Four Gospels have totems: Eagle (Matthew), Bull (Mark), Lion (Luke) and Man (John) and the Gospel writers are indeed guardians of Holy Tradition concerning the Son of God.

3. Lamech’s wives were named Adah (dawn) and t-Zillah (dusk), suggesting that Lamech the Elder placed his 2 wives on an east-west axis. All the other rulers listed in Genesis 4 and 5 likely had 2 wives also but it appears that they placed them on a north-south axis, as did Abraham. Sarah lived in Hebron and Keturah lived in Beersheba, to the south. By placing his wives on an east-west axis, Lamech the Elder claimed a territory corresponding to that of the Creator, whose emblem the Sun, makes a daily journey over the Earth, traveling from east to west. It is interesting to note that Mohammed, a descendent of Abraham by Keturah, placed his 2 wives’ apartments on the east and west sides of his mosque in Medina. Doubtless, this lent credibilty to his claim to be The Prophet of Allah.


Related reading:  The Cousin Bride's Naming Prerogative; African Naming Practices; An African Reflects on Biblical Names